


maybe christmas perhaps means a little bit more

by bechloehuh



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Christmas fic, F/F, Fluff, aubrey and chloe are best friends and roommates, beca is their grumpy neighbor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 20:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13174959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bechloehuh/pseuds/bechloehuh
Summary: “What.... is happening?”Aubrey looks at Beca, their hands still intertwined, and smiles.“You really thought we’d let you spend Christmas alone?”Mitchsen “You’re drunk and walked into the wrong apartment and fell asleep on my couch oh god you’re going to be so confused in the morning” AU





	maybe christmas perhaps means a little bit more

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mistygayy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistygayy/gifts).



> this is for my secret santa giftee @incredibeale on tumblr (sarcasticrayofsunshine on here)  
> merry belated christmas my friend! (so sorry it’s late!)

With a huff, Aubrey drops the last box of Christmas decorations down onto the floor next to the coffee table.

As much as she’d love to call it a night, get her pajamas on and watch Christmas movies until she falls asleep, since it’s already almost seven, she told Chloe that they’d put the tree up tonight, and letting Chloe Beale down is something that Aubrey, for the life of her,  _ cannot _ do. Especially when Chloe’s  _ this _ excited to be spending their first Christmas together, since they won’t be going home for the holidays like they have done for the past five years of their friendship.

“Bree look!” Chloe shouts excitedly, and Aubrey turns to look at her best friend, shaking her head with a smile when she sees the gold tinsel wrapped around Chloe’s forehead. “I’m an angel!”

“You sure are,” she says with a laugh, bending down to pick up a box of ornaments.

It took a while for Aubrey to persuade Chloe to get a fake tree this year. After what felt like a million “Chloe we can just buy a candle that smells like Christmas trees, we don’t need a  _ real _ one just for the scent”, Chloe finally agreed on getting an artificial one, but  _ only _ if Aubrey promised to spend the evening putting the tree up and decorating the apartment with her.

It goes well, too. Better than Aubrey had thought it would, up until Chloe starts to fall asleep while tying string onto some ornaments. It’s after her third yawn in five minutes when Aubrey drops the plastic ornament in her hand back into the box and walks over to where Chloe is sitting on the couch.

“Come on,” she says, holding her hand out. Chloe looks up at her, a confused expression on her face, and Aubrey snaps her fingers twice. “Give me that, I’ll finish up. You’re gonna end up falling asleep sat upright and hurting your neck again.”

“I’m good,” Chloe responds, another yawn threatening to escape, but she manages to suppress it. Aubrey still notices though, and she gives Chloe a pointed look, until Chloe sighs. “ _ Fine _ ,” she says, handing the ornament and string to Aubrey before standing up. “Don’t do it all, I want to hang the mistletoe and wreaths tomorrow before Stacie comes over in the morning.”

“What time is she coming?”

“Ten, I think. She said ten but I know we’re not actually going out til like, eleven thirty. She likes to give me time because I’m–”

“–Always late, I know,” Aubrey laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave the mistletoe and wreaths for you. Goodnight.”

“Night,” Chloe says, leaning in to place a kiss on Aubrey’s cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Aubrey responds with a smile, pushing Chloe in the direction of her bedroom. “Now go, or you’ll sleep in and I'll have a frustrated Stacie Conrad at my door again.”

It doesn’t take long for Aubrey to finish putting the ornaments and tinsel on the tree, and eventually she heads to her room to get ready for bed when she sees that it’s nearing midnight. She’s pouring herself a glass of water to take to bed with her when she suddenly hears the familiar sound of the apartment door opening and closing a few seconds after. 

With a sigh, she reaches into the drawer beside her and pulls out the first thing her hand lands on, which happens to be a wooden rolling pin. She really should pick a better weapon in case whoever it is armed and dangerous, but she’s really tired and she can’t deal with an intruder right now. She just wants to go to sleep otherwise she won’t get her eight hours and she’ll be cranky in the morning, and it’s hard to be cranky when she’s supposed to be spending the day with two of the most upbeat people in the world.

So she walks out of the kitchen and into the living room, ready to let this possible murderer know that she’s not interested in dying today and to maybe come back next week, but she stops, loosening her tight grip on the rolling pin as she looks at the small figure.

“Beca?” She asks, wondering why on earth her new neighbor is currently wandering around her living room looking like she’s lost something.

Beca doesn’t respond though, instead stumbling over to the couch and throwing herself face first onto it as soon as her knees touch the arm.

She’s hardly even acquainted with Beca, so the fact that she’s currently falling asleep on her living room couch right now confuses Aubrey to no end. She’s pretty sure they’ve said about ten words to each other since Beca moved in a few months ago.

Aubrey puts the rolling pin on the table as she slowly makes her way over to where Beca is lying, hesitating before reaching her hand out to poke her shoulder.

“Pssst.” She shakes her slightly, but all Beca does is groan as she turns her head the other way, smushing her face into the back of the couch. And Aubrey sighs because she doesn’t even  _ know _ this girl, and she has no idea why she’s here in her apartment right now. And if Aubrey’s confused then she  _ knows _ that Beca’s going to be even more confused if she wakes up on Aubrey and Chloe’s couch in the morning.

Aubrey guesses she’s drunk though, because she’s murmuring something about too many jello shots with someone named Jesus or Jesse. And as much as Aubrey would love to get rid of her - she’s not even fond of Beca, if she’s honest, so letting her sleep on her couch is not something that she thought she’d ever see herself doing - she thinks it’d be kind of mean to wake her up and throw her out. Even if she  _ is _ technically breaking the law.

That thought catches Aubrey’s attention, and she remembers that she must have forgotten to lock the door otherwise Beca wouldn’t have been able to let herself in. She guesses that’s enough incentive she has to leave Beca alone on the couch, heading into her room and making sure she sets her alarm for eight so she has time to wake Beca and get her out of the apartment before Chloe finds her and asks questions.

/

The sound of Chloe’s voice wakes Aubrey up the next morning.

She’s sat on her knees looking down at Aubrey with a huge  _ Chloe Beale _ smile, her hair pulled back into a ponytail with a few strands falling in front of her face.

“Wake up grumpy butt.”

“Why are you in my bed?” Aubrey asks with a groan as she turns over in bed, pulling the bed cover up over her head.

“Because I brought you a breakfast burrito.”

Aubrey immediately uncovers her head and looks at Chloe.

“What type?”

“April fools.”

“Chloe! It’s December!” Chloe giggles as Aubrey pulls the covers up to her chin, and she’s about to tell Chloe she needs five more minutes - because she’s pretty sure her alarm hasn’t even gone off yet - when Chloe gets out of bed and walks over to open the curtains. “What are you doing?” Aubrey asks, glancing over at the clock beside her bed with squinted eyes. “It’s... seven thirty.”

“I know,” Chloe answers, turning around, “but there’s a little girl on our couch and I don’t know what to do with her.”

Aubrey groans, remembering how Beca had come into the apartment last night, and how she’d wanted to be awake before Chloe so she could get rid of Beca before Chloe started to ask questions. That plan failed though so instead she gives in to the questioning look Chloe is giving her and sighs.

“It’s Beca. She let herself into the apartment last night and just… passed out on the couch. I didn’t know what to do so I left her there.”

Chloe laughs, mouthing “ohh” as she makes her way over to Aubrey’s bedroom door. “Well,” Chloe says. “Stacie’s coming over a little early for breakfast. Maybe Beca could stay too?”

“First she sleeps on my couch and now we’re offering her food?” Aubrey sits up. “She’s not homeless, she has a perfectly decent apartment literally next door.”

Chloe just tilts her head and purses her lips, and Aubrey knows that she’s not getting out of this one. “It’s Christmas,” Chloe says. “She’s staying.”

“It’s December fifteenth!” Aubrey yells back, but Chloe ignores her.

/

When Aubrey finally comes out of her room in her pajamas and robe - and bunny slippers which Chloe had bought her for her birthday - Beca is already awake. She really hoped Beca would have left as soon as she woke up, embarrassed and making excuses as to why she has to leave. But no, Beca is currently sat at her kitchen table eating a bowl of cornflakes with a half empty cup of coffee in front of her while Chloe hums along to the quiet Christmas music playing in the background.

“Morning.” Aubrey says, catching Beca’s attention. Beca has the decency to look a little embarrassed, and Aubrey tries not to notice the once over that Beca gives her as she makes her way into the kitchen. “Sleep well?”

“Um,” Beca finishes swallowing her mouthful of cornflakes, slowly lowering the spoon into the bowl and scooping up another spoonful. “Fine,” she says, before shoving the cereal into her mouth.

Aubrey gives a polite, slightly disturbed smile, before turning to Chloe and asking her what she’s making for breakfast.

Stacie arrives not long after, greeting Chloe with a kiss that lasts so long that Aubrey is tempted to reach over and cover Beca’s eyes because sure, she doesn’t know exactly how old Beca is, but she’s tiny, so in Aubrey’s eyes she’s a child.

Instead, she looks away. And Beca seems to have the same idea because their heads turn at the same time and their eyes meet and Beca laughs lightly, causing Aubrey to laugh and break eye contact.

Later, Aubrey will think about how that was the first time she’s ever seen Beca Mitchell smile. For now though, she clears her throat to break Stacie and Chloe apart, then asks when they’ll be going out.

“Lunchtime,” Stacie says, leaning over to pick up a piece of bacon from Chloe’s plate. “Who do you have left to buy for?”

“Emily and Flo,” Aubrey says. “And you two.”

“Are you coming with us?” Stacie asks, and Aubrey’s head shoots up from where she had been looking at her plate to see Beca stopping mid chew, looking back and forth between Stacie, Aubrey and Chloe.

Aubrey is just about to tell Stacie that no, Beca will not be coming with them, when Chloe speaks up before she has chance, telling Beca that she should come Christmas shopping with them. And Aubrey once again, is about to speak up and say “no Beca should absolutely  _ not _ come shopping with us” when Beca lets out a soft laugh, stopping her.

“Um, I’m good,” Beca says. “I have… plans.”

Chloe “ahh”’s in understanding, slapping Stacie’s hand away when she tries to steal another piece of bacon off her plate. And Aubrey can feel Beca’s eyes on her but she keeps her own glued to her plate. Because even though she doesn’t like Beca, she still finds herself a little disappointed that Beca doesn’t want to come with them.

Which confuses her because she’s never cared about stuff like that before. If anything, she should be glad that Beca can’t come. After all, the only reason Beca didn’t get kicked out of her apartment this morning was because Chloe is too nice of a person to do that to someone, and Aubrey didn’t get chance to tell her that if she breaks into their apartment again she won’t hesitate to call the police.

Still though, when Beca leaves later on, awkwardly apologizing for crashing in the wrong apartment last night, Aubrey finds herself not wanting Beca to leave just yet.

And all the back and forth feelings she’s having is confusing her so much that Chloe has to ask her multiple times while they’re shopping if she’s okay.

“You look like you’re about to throw up,” Stacie says.

She shoots back an “I’m fine” before leaving, telling them she has to go buy their present and she’ll meet up with them in an hour.

/

A few days later, when Chloe tells her that she invited Beca over for their weekly movie night, Aubrey is too tired to argue with her.

For some reason, Chloe likes Beca. She’d brought it up yesterday, telling Aubrey that before she came out of her room the other day, Beca was nice and polite and apologetic over the fact that she broke into their apartment and passed out drunk on their couch.

Which, okay, isn’t exactly impressive. It’s what any decent human being would do. But Chloe had a tendency of seeing the best in people, no matter how dark their eyeliner is or how bitchy they look walking down the street. Chloe likes to give people chances, and though Aubrey isn’t like this in any way, she guesses since it’s Christmas, letting Beca watch a movie with them is a decent enough thing to do to be considered a good person.

Beca knocks on the door at six thirty, and Aubrey answers it with a smile and a questionable glance at Beca’s clothes for the evening. Beca doesn’t falter under her gaze though, instead awkwardly holding a bottle of wine with a forced smile.

“Come in,” Aubrey says, holding her hand out to take the bottle from Beca. “You didn’t have to…”

“It’s actually for me.”

“Oh.” Aubrey pulls her arm back towards her body, stepping aside to let Beca in. Beca smirks at her though, looking up at her with those dark eyes that up until now, Aubrey has always told herself that she hated.

“I’m kidding.” Beca holds the bottle out for Aubrey to take. “Here.”

It takes a second for Aubrey to catch up, but she laughs when she does, nodding her head awkwardly as she accepts the bottle.

“Come in. We’re watching Star Wars. Stacie’s choice.”

“Great.”

“Not a fan?”

Beca starts to take her jacket off, turning around to face Aubrey. “Never seen it.”

/

It doesn’t take long for Chloe and Stacie to get distracted during the movie. They make it just over halfway through The Force Awakens - which, admittedly, might be their new record - before they start making out on the couch. And because they only have one couch in their small Brooklyn apartment, Beca is forced to press closer into Aubrey’s side than she would’ve thought necessary.

“Are they always like this?” Beca asks quietly, and it takes a second for Aubrey to realize that she’s talking to her.

“Um,” she takes her eyes off of the TV, looking beside her at Beca, whose face is way too close for comfort as she tries to avoid any contact with the couple at the other side of her.

“Get a room,” Beca says, loud enough for them to hear. They have the decency to look a little embarrassed, until Stacie stands up and takes Chloe’s hand. She throws a wink over her shoulder at Aubrey, who looks away immediately, focusing on the TV and not the fact that Beca hasn’t moved back to her earlier spot on the couch.

It’s a short five minutes later that they start to hear noises, and that must be it for Beca, because she slaps both her hands on her knees and gets up off of the couch.

“Okay, that’s disgusting. Do you wanna go?”

Aubrey looks up at Beca, then over to the small clock on the wall, squinting her eyes in the dark room to see that it’s almost 8PM.

“Where?”

“I don’t know, anywhere. I can’t deal with,” she points behind her, “ _ that _ .”

It takes a few seconds for Aubrey to find her words - she’s mostly taken aback that Beca seems to  _ want _ to spend time with her - but she eventually nods in agreement before standing up and heading over to put her shoes on.

/

They end up taking a walk through Prospect Park.

It takes a while for conversation to start up, and Aubrey is starting to think that maybe Beca’s taking her somewhere to be murdered. And she’s screwed because she left her phone at home in the middle of rushing out of the apartment, trying to drown out Stacie and Chloe’s moans, so she has no way of calling for help.

Beca doesn’t murder her though.

She, surprisingly, apologizes for crashing on her couch the other night. And it throws Aubrey off guard a little because Beca seems genuinely sorry, and sure, she doesn’t exactly _ know _ Beca, but she never pegged her as the type of person to care about being  _ polite _ . Beca apologizes though, and Aubrey starts to feel an unfamiliar bout of warmth in her chest whenever Beca’s arm brushes hers as they walk side-by-side. And she’s not sure why she’s feeling this way but it feels good, and she doesn’t really know what that means.

“...moved to Atlanta when I was eighteen because my dad works at Barden University and he-”

“-You went to Barden?” Aubrey interrupts, catching that part of the conversation after realizing that she’d been zoning in and out as Beca spoke.

“Yeah. You know it?”

Aubrey smiles. “English major, class of two thousand and thirteen.”

“Wha-  _ dude _ , I graduated two thousand and fifteen.”

“What did you study?”

“Music theory and Composition.”

Aubrey smiles. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Small world.”

She looks down at Beca, noticing the smile already on the girl’s face as she looks up at Aubrey. And if Beca notices the way Aubrey’s cheeks tinge with red when she catches her looking, she doesn’t mention it. Instead, they carry on walking until eventually Beca asks if she wants to grab something to eat.

And Aubrey, for some bizarre reason, finds herself not wanting to go home any time soon, too interested in getting to know Beca. So she agrees and suggests the 24 hour diner a few blocks from their apartment building, her heart clenching in her chest when Beca excitedly tells her that that’s her favorite place to eat.

/

Aubrey’s too busy focusing on calming her heart rate down to realize that Beca is talking to her.

She only notices where they are when Beca taps her on the arm. She’s looking up at her with questioning eyes and Aubrey has to ask “what?” because she’s secretly hoping that Beca had asked her something. Maybe something along the lines of “do you want to come in?” or “do you want to do this again sometime?”

But Beca just laughs nervously, pointing her thumb back towards the door behind her.

“I said I had a good night.”

“Oh!” Aubrey nods. “Yeah, me too. Thanks for saving me from…”

“Yeah,” Beca breathes out a laugh. “No problem.”

There’s a short silence between them, tension hanging in the air, before Beca clears her throat and motions towards her apartment door. She doesn’t say anything but Aubrey gets it. And they say goodbye to each other once more before Aubrey makes her way back into her own apartment, shutting the door quietly so she doesn’t wake Chloe and Stacie.

They’d hung out for a few hours at the diner, talking about anything and everything until their food arrived. And then they carried on talking after that, conversation surprisingly flowing well between them, up until Aubrey was sure she knew everything about Beca.

Except the intimate things, because Aubrey had refused to open up about the intimate details of her life, which she’s pretty sure Beca had done too. They didn’t voice it but they  _ knew _ . Beca would mention her mom and dad and she’d suddenly recoil in on herself, and Aubrey would mention her dad and she would do the same. They never outright told each other, but they knew the other didn’t want to speak about certain things. And instead of things turning awkward between them, one of them would change the subject and then they’d be chatting again.

And Aubrey’s not really one to talk about herself, so the fact that she opened herself up to Beca like that to easily has her thinking that maybe, just maybe, she and Beca have more in common than she thinks.

/

“How many cookies did you  _ make _ , Chloe?”

Chloe turns around, a santa hat on her head and some festive oven mitts on each hand. She leans down to pull another tray of cookies out of the oven, ready for decorating once they’ve cooled down.

“You can never have too many Christmas cookies, Bree!”

Aubrey sighs, looking at Stacie, before looking back to Chloe who is now turning the oven off and taking the oven mitts off.

“You’re not going to eat all them.”

“I could totally eat all of them.”

“No, Stacie,” Chloe says, giving her a warning look, before turning to Aubrey. “I made some for  _ Beca _ too, they’re not  _ all _ for us.”

Aubrey perks up at the sound of Beca’s name, but quickly realizes that Chloe will definitely notice if she begins to show any signs of being interested in Beca, and then she’ll insist on hooking them up and this, weirdly, is the one relationship that Aubrey is determined not to mess up.

Not that that have a  _ relationship _ . Not an interesting one anyway. They’ve said hi to each other as they pass on the stairs a couple of times since that night they went out, but nothing has happened since then.

“Can you go give them to her?”

“Uh,” Aubrey looks down at her outfit choice and she’s about to tell her that she  _ was _ about to get in the shower, but Chloe quickly cuts in and tells her that she looks great. “I wasn’t-”

“Please, Bree. I need you to help me decorate these other cookies for Flo so we can take them to her later. Just leave them outside Beca’s door or something.”

Aubrey sighs, taking the box of cookies from Chloe’s hands before leaving the apartment.

She’s about to knock when she sees that the door is open slightly, and panic sets in immediately. She feels her stomach turn at the thought of something happening to Beca, but before she can think too much about it, she hears her voice from inside the apartment.

“No, I guess I- Yeah. No that’s fine. With her? Whatever. Yeah, I know. Sure.” She sighs loudly. “The twenty eighth? Okay. Yeah. Merry Christmas, dad.”

“Is everything okay?”

Beca jumps, turning around and relaxing when she sees that it’s Aubrey.

“Um.”

“Sorry, the door was open.”

Beca nods, throwing her phone down onto the couch as Aubrey looks around. The apartment seems much smaller than hers and Chloe’s, and much less… christmassy. The only thing showing that it’s the 23rd of December and not the middle of June is the small three foot Christmas tree beside the TV. There’s only a few ornaments and garland on it, and Aubrey thinks that Chloe would have a conniption if she saw how bland it looked in here.

She’s not here to criticize Beca’s apartment and Christmas tree choices though, which she remembers when Beca asks her what she’s doing here.

“Oh! Chloe made you these,” she says, holding the box of cookies out. “I think they’re chocolate chip.”

“Thanks.” She takes the box with an awkward smile, and they stand there for a moment and it reminds Aubrey of the night they spent hanging out last week. And the tension is there again, seeping in between the silence as the two of them stand awkwardly, the only sound in the room coming from Beca’s fingers tapping on the box.

“Um-”

“-Are you okay?”

Beca raises her eyebrows questioningly, and Aubrey is quick to back her answer up by the fact that she seemed upset on the phone.

“ _ Oh _ , yeah, that was my dad.”

“Everything okay?”

“I was supposed to be visiting him for Christmas but he’s going to Seattle.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Beca shifts awkwardly on her feet. “Thanks for the cookies.”

“Sure,” Aubrey nods, sensing that Beca wants her to leave. “I’ll um… See you.”

Beca nods, but before Aubrey makes it to the door, she hears Beca tell her to wait. She turns around, trying not to let the hope overtake her as she watches Beca put down the box of cookies and pick up her cell phone.

“My number,” Beca says, walking over to Aubrey. She stops at the shelf by the door, reaching up to pick up a pen from it. “Ya know, in case of,” she scrolls through her phone, stopping at one of the contacts which Aubrey guesses is Beca. And Aubrey has to control her breathing because Beca is putting the pen in her mouth and reaching out for her hand. “Emergencies.” She finishes.

“Right,” Aubrey answers. She lets Beca take her hand, pulling the pen out of her mouth but leaving the lid there, before copying her number down onto Aubrey’s palm.

“I know we live next door but you never know if, like… ya know. There’s an emergency. I-”

“-Yeah,” Aubrey interrupts, nodding as Beca finishes. “I’ll text you my number.”

/

Aubrey wakes up on Christmas morning to the sound of Chloe blasting Christmas music in the kitchen, and she sighs when she sees that it’s not even seven. And as much as she’d love to go back to sleep, the fact that Chloe is awake and singing means she’s making breakfast, and Aubrey loves her best friend’s cooking.

She makes sure to grab Chloe’s Christmas present before she heads into the kitchen, smiling at Chloe dancing around in her Christmas pajamas as she makes breakfast. And Chloe notices her when she sits down at the table, grinning that big  _ Chloe Beale _ smile as she yells “Merry Christmas Bree!” over the music.

She thinks about Beca being alone over Christmas as they eat their breakfast together, ignoring the worried looks Chloe is giving her. It’s not until her third sigh in less than five minutes that Chloe puts her knife and fork down and asks Aubrey what’s going on.

“It’s Beca,” Aubrey says, and Chloe’s eyebrows raise at the girl’s name. “She’s on her own for Christmas. Her dad is in Seattle.”

“Oh,” Chloe pouts, reaching out to pick her cup of coffee up. “We should ask her to have dinner with us,” she says casually before sipping her coffee. The thought of spending Christmas with Beca makes Aubrey smile, and Chloe is looking at her questioningly as she tries to stop herself from grinning, but it’s not use. “Aubrey,” Chloe says, a teasing warning in her tone. “Do you like her?”

“What? No!” She picks up her cup just like Chloe had, distracting herself by taking several short sips and avoiding eye contact with Chloe before she eventually sees the look her best friend is giving her. “Okay. I don’t know.”

“You don’t  _ know _ ?”

“That night she came over to watch a movie, we… We left and walked through the park and it was,” she pauses, shrugging with a nervous smile. “It was nice. We talked a lot and I found out that she went to Barden too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Aubrey can’t help the grin forming on her face. “She studied music theory and she wants to be a music producer. And she’s  _ so _ smart. She’s just… so interesting. And not at all as bratty as I thought she was.”

“Awww,” Chloe smiles, mouth full of pancakes and her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, “you like her!”

“Shut up,” Aubrey replies immediately, trying to act annoyed, but she knows that Chloe can see the blush creeping up on her neck and her cheeks. Chloe knows her more than she knows herself, so there’s no point in trying to deny the fact that yes, she  _ does _ like Beca. 

And it scares the shit out of her.

/

Stacie arrives at 12 when Aubrey and Chloe are cooking Christmas dinner.

Aubrey had shared the kitchen with Chloe - asking her to do vegetables to go with the food - but spent most of the day telling Chloe off for trying to pick at the food before they sat down to eat together. The turkey was cooked to perfection and the mashed potatoes were mashed thoroughly, just like Chloe liked them. Stacie and Chloe had set the table, setting out four placemats along with knives and forks and two glasses. One for their water and one for the champagne, which they’d be opening when everybody was here.

At first she was going to ask Chloe to go get Beca, but after realizing that Beca knows  _ her  _ more than she knows Chloe, she’d volunteered and told Chloe to start dishing out the food while she asked Beca to join them.

And she was excited, up until the moment it came to knocking on Beca’s door. What if Beca wasn’t home? What if she took a last minute trip to Seattle to be with her dad? What if she had other friends who were willing to invite her to their Christmas dinner? What if she didn’t want to be friends with Aubrey after all?

All those thoughts flew out of the window though when she remembered that Beca said, over text, that her plans for Christmas were to wake up at noon and attempt to cook a half-decent meal for herself before drinking herself into a nap.

She knocks on the door a few times, pressing her ear up against it in case she hears Beca shouting at her to come in or to go away. She knocks again, stepping back when she hears her moving around at the other side of the door.

“Aubrey,” Beca says when she sees Aubrey stood at the door. “What… are you doing?”

“Do you have any plans today?”

“Um,” Beca rubs at her eyes, and Aubrey looks at her attire. A black Game of Thrones shirt which is way too big for her and a pair of grey sweatpants. “No. No plans.”

Before Aubrey realizes what she’s doing, she reaches out for Beca’s hand, pulling her out of her apartment and next door, into her own. Chloe perks up at the sound of them entering the apartment, greeting them both with a big smile.

“Merry Christmas Beca!” she shouts, putting a plate down on one of the placemats.

“What.... is happening?”

Aubrey looks at Beca, their hands still intertwined, and smiles.

“You really thought we’d let you spend Christmas alone?”

/

It’s long after dinner when Aubrey finds herself finally feeling like she can breathe properly again.

She’d been nervous almost all day, wanting to make everything perfect for Beca. The dinner and the music choices and the movie that they’d all sat together and watched afterwards. She found herself looking to Beca every once in a while, trying to see if she was enjoying herself. And every time Aubrey looked to her, Beca looked right back. A glint in her eye that Aubrey’s never seen before. Not until today.

It takes all Aubrey has in her not to grin like an idiot when she feels Beca’s hand thread through hers halfway through The Grinch. Because she’s not used to this. The butterflies whenever someone so much as looks in her direction. The way her heart pounds every time they touche her, be it a brush of their hand against hers or their body pressed against her side. She hasn’t felt this in a long time, and she’s terrified and excited all at the same time about the fact that it’s  _ Beca _ making her feel all of these things.

“Thanks,” Beca whispers, and it takes a second for Aubrey to realize that Beca is talking to her. She looks beside her at Beca, glancing down at their joined hands, before looking back up into Beca’s eyes.

“What?”

“Um. Thank you,” Beca smiles awkwardly. “For ya know, inviting-  _ well _ , dragging me here.”

Aubrey laughs softly, looking behind Beca at Stacie and Chloe who are cuddled up beside them on the couch; Stacie already asleep and Chloe falling asleep with her head resting on Stacie’s shoulder.

“It’s no problem. It was Chloe’s idea.”

“Oh.”

Aubrey opens her mouth to say something in response, sensing the disappointment in Beca’s voice, but quickly shuts it when she sees Beca break eye contact and look back towards the TV.

She keeps her eye on Beca though, watching her every move, taking in every detail. The glare of the TV screen lighting up her face, the flutter of her eyelashes when she blinks, and the way her lips are set in a thin line. She’s beautiful, even with no makeup and sweats on. She’s the most beautiful person Aubrey has ever laid eyes on, and if she wasn’t so focused on watching Beca, she’d realize that Beca has let go of her hand.

She doesn’t  _ actually _ notice until the sound of Chloe laughing at the TV breaks her from her little reverie. She looks down, eyebrows knitting together in confusion when she notices that Beca’s hands are now sat awkwardly in her lap.

“Beca.”

Beca doesn’t look at her, just hums in response as she focuses on the scene where the Grinch’s heart starts to grow three sizes.

She takes a deep breath, before stretching her neck forward to press a kiss to Beca’s cheek. And if it takes Beca by surprise, then she doesn’t show it. Instead, a smile grows on her face as she starts to blush, and Aubrey smiles because this is a much better reaction than she’d expected.

“You missed.”

Aubrey frowns, swallowing thickly when Beca turns to look at her again. Beca takes her hand again, threading their fingers together, and Aubrey’s heart clenches at the way Beca looks down at her lips.

“What?”

“You missed.”

And then Beca is leaning forward, her grip tightening on Aubrey’s hand just as their lips meet. And Aubrey brings her free hand up to cup Beca’s cheek, the pads of her thumb rubbing over the soft skin, and she can’t help the way she smiles into the kiss.

“Did you just quote Elf?”

Beca pulls back, a confused look on her face. “What’s that?”

“Elf? The Christmas movie?” Aubrey’s hand slowly falls to rest on Beca’s shoulder just as Beca shrugs, shaking her head and pursing her lips. “You’ve never seen it?”

Beca shakes her head again. “I don’t like movies.”

“Wh-what? Seriously?” Beca nods her head with a nervous smile, and Aubrey catches the way she looks down at her lips again. “You’ve watched two movies with us, why didn’t you say?” Beca looks away, the nervous smile falling slightly as she looks at the TV again. “Beca?”

“I just,” Beca sighs quietly, “wanted to spend time with you.”

Aubrey’s furrowed eyebrows finally relax, and she lets out a breath of what she thinks is relief, a smile forming on her face at how cute Beca looks when she’s nervous.

“Beca.”

“Yeah?” Beca turns towards Aubrey, eyes softening immediately as she looks at her, and it takes all Aubrey has in her not to cry because she really likes Beca and she can tell, without a doubt, that Beca likes her too. And that thought has her pulling Beca towards her by the fabric of her shirt, pressing their lips together again.

It takes her breath away and she has to focus on her breathing in case she ends up suffocating, and Beca’s lips feel so soft and gentle against her own. She’s never felt this before and she thinks, as Beca tilts her head to deepen the kiss, that she can definitely get used to it.

And to think she almost kicked Beca out that night she accidentally walked into her apartment and fell asleep on this very couch.

(She’s so glad she didn’t.)


End file.
